Weird Science

"Richard Feynman hangs in the air before me, just above the dirty dishes in the sink. He shimmers, shifts, the famous eyebrows drifting like smog. Behind him floats the Trinity nuclear test site, a swarm of nanobots, a sensory deprivation tank, the rubber seals of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

"While we have access to holograms, they are often simplistic, without definition and realism. In addition, even if we could easily produce true-to-life holograms, we can't create force fields capable of forming light into a solid shape. No, we're going to have to get creative. We need to recreate the experience while staying grounded in reality. To do this, we'll have to cherry pick from currently existing and upcoming tech."

"Imagine the benefits, even just for the gaming community. No more choosing between late-night guild raids or sleep. Laser-sharp concentration for all those Halo matches. Even casual players could benefit, chemically amplifying their alertness while they go for that million-point combo in Bejeweled.

"But here's the dirty little secret: The pills are out there, just prescribed for different conditions. Healthy individuals are secretly taking drugs that fix ailing hearts and help kids with ADHD sit still in class, to make themselves smarter."

"Meteorites retain the same place of prominence in the modern heart that they held in the ancient one. Perhaps no heavenly body beside the zodiacal constellations has endured in this way. We know a meteorite cleared an evolutionary path for us 65 million years ago. We also know a meteorite could block that path at any moment. Meteorites symbolize both Genesis and the Day of Judgment."

"Everything from your mom's favorite tea set to the annoying kid throwing paper airplanes in the back of the bus has a magnetic field, even if it's tiny. However, with enough juice running through an electromagnet, scientists can make anything fly. Take, for instance, the levitating frog, which can surf an electromagnetic wave with the best of them."